Road line markers



Oct. 1 1963 A. c. KRUEGER ROAD LINE MARKERS Filed May 18, 1962 mm mm MmC A United States Patent 3,145,457 RGAD LINE MARKERS Arthur (I. Krueger,Port Washington, Wis., assignor to Tri-Tix, Inc., Port Washington, Wis.,a corporation of Illinois Fiied May 18, 1962, Ser. No. 195,821 3 Claims.(Cl. 11663) This invention relates to improvements in road line markers,and more particularly to an improved marker of the type used to preventcars and trucks from driving on freshly painted road lines.

The ordinary method of protecting wet paint lines on roads or highwaysuntil the paint has had a chance to dry, is to position upright flags atintervals along the line. Such conventional markers are not entirelysatisfactory for their intended purpose, however. For one thing, saidflags are usually mounted on relatively large wooden bases which cannotbe placed directly on the line without smearing the paint and it istherefore necessary to position the markers on each side of the line,with the result that the usable width of the road is restricted.Moreover, in the usual method of placing the markers on the road orhighway, a workman on the back of a moving truck merely drops saidmarkers onto the road and it is not infrequent that a marker does notland squarely on its base, and falls over. Further, such conventionalmarkers are easily overturned or displaced by winds or by the aircurrents created by passing trucks and cars, thus causing a dangeroushazard for motorists.

With the above considerations in mind, the principal objects of thepresent invention are to provide a novel marker for road lines and thelike which can be placed directly on a painted line, thereby permittingthe unrestricted use of the driving lanes, which improved marker can bedropped into position from a moving truck and will always land in anupright position, and which novel marker cannot be overturned by windsor air currents.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a roadmarker for the purposes described which is in the form of a six-pointeddevice resembling :a childs jackstones, or so-called jacks, said markerbeing so designed that it is supported in an upright position on threeof said projecting points no matter how it is dropped, and wherein saidthree-point support provides maximum stability against winds and aircurrents.

A further specific object is to provide a novel six-pointed road linemarker as described, wherein the (ground area actually cont-acted by thethree supporting points is so small that said marker may be placeddirectly on a wet paint line without noticeably smearing the paint.

A further object is to provide a novel road line marker having aplurality of projecting points, as described, wherein one of theupstanding points can be utilized as a handle to facilitate the graspingof said marker when the same is being removed by :a Workman in a movingtruck.

A further object of the invention is to provide a'novel road line markerwhich is hollow in form and which is molded of a relatively inexpensive,flexible plastic material, thus not only minimizing manufacturing costs,but providing a unique, flexible marker which will not ordinarily bebroken or even seriously damaged in the event it is struck or run overby a vehicle.

A further object is to provide a novel, hollow road line marker moldedof a relatively inexpensive plastic, as described, which hollow markercan be readily filled with sand or other inexpensive material toincrease its weight and stability.

A further object is to provide a novel road line marker which is formedin the shape of a six-pointed jack, as described, which device will bereadily seen by motorists,

3,165,457 Patented Dot. 1, 1963 ICC and wherein the pointed form of saidmarker will. cause drivers to take precautions to avoid striking thesame for fear of injuring their tires.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel,six-pointed road marker, as described, which structural design permits alarge number of said markers to be stacked together in compact form forconvenient and economical shipping or storage.

With these and other objects in view, which other objects and advantageswill become apparent in the following description, the inventionconsists of the improved marker for road lines and the like, and all ofits parts and combinations, as set forth in the claims, and allequivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, and wherein the same reference numerals designate thesame :parts in all of the views:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the novel road line marker;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of said marker; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view on a reduced scale of a portion of a roadhaving a pair of said markers in position thereon.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the novel road marker 10comprising the present invention includes an enlarged central portion11, which is spherical in the preferred form of the invention but whichmay be of any desired shape, and projecting from said central portionare identical, tapered legs, or points, 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D 121-3 and12F. Said marker is hollow and is preferably molded of an inexpensive,flexible plastic material. Dut to said unique design, wherein all of theparts have good draw, it has been found that the present marker can bereadily molded in one piece, which contributes to its relativelyinexpensive manufacturing cost. With respect to the particular materialemployed, it is contemplated that any of several commercial plastics, orrubber, would be satisfactory, and the invention is not to be limited inthis respect.

As appears in FIGS. 1 and 2, the six points, or legs, 12A through 12F,are formed integrally in the surface of the central portion 1 1, and aretaperedoutwardly to terminate in relatively small points. Said legs areequally spaced about the peripheral surface of said sphere 11, whicharrangement is generally similar to a childs jack, and with the resultthat said marker will always rest on three of said points no matter howit is positioned. In FIG. 2, for example, the marker is supported by thelegs 12D, 12E and 12F, but it could as well be supported on any of theother similarly-related sets of legs, the importance of which featurewill be hereinafter seen.

Said marker 10 is hollow, as described, and formed in a suitablelocation in the spherical central portion 11 is an aperture in which acap or plug 13 is removably fitted. The function of said opening is toprovide communication with the interior cavity whereby sand 14 (FIG. 2),or other inexpensive, relatively heavy material, can be introduced intosaid hollow marker to increase its weight and stability.

In the use of a road line marker of the general type herein concerned, aworkman positioned in the back of a slowly moving truck ordinarilymerely drops the markers onto the road, said markers falling at leastseveral inches to the pavement. With conventional markers, which are inthe form of upn'ght flags mounted on fiat, wooden bases, it is quitecommon for some of said markers to land incorrectly and to fall over.Moreover, winds and air currents created by passing cars and trucksfrequently overturn the same, in which event said markers create adangerous hazard for drivers. A further disadvantage of suchconventional markers is that they must be positioned to the side of thepaint line, in order to avoid smearing the paint, with the result thatthe width of the traflic lanes is reduced.

In the use of the improved road line marker comprising the presentinvention, the marker can be dropped from a moving truck in theconventional manner, and due to the novel, six-pointed form thereof saidmarker will always land on three of said points, or legs, and willalways be supported in an upright position. Thus, with the presentinvention the possibility of the marker landing incorrectly and fallingover to an inoperative position is eliminated. In addition, thethree-point support provided by the three diverging, ground-engaginglegs provides maximum stability against displacement by the wind or bythe air currents created by passing trucks and cars. Said unique shapealso provides relatively little flat body surface areas for said aircurrents or wind to act on. When the markers are being collected by aworkman in a moving truck, after the paint line has dried, theupstanding points thereon function as handles to facilitate the graspingof said markers.

As mentioned, and as shown in the drawing, the legs 12A through 12F inthe present invention are tapered outwardly and terminate in relativelysmall points. Consequently, the ground area actually contacted by saidsupporting legs is so small that the marker can be placed on a freshlypainted road line 15 (FIG. 3) without noticeably smearing the paint ormarring said line. Moreover, due to the diverging nature of saidsupporting legs it frequently occurs that when the marker is positioneddirectly over a paint line only one of said legs actually rests on theline, the other two supporting legs straddling said line, thus evenfurther reducing the contact area. As a result, the improved markercomprising the present invention can be placed directly over a roadline, and there is no need to position the same to the side of said lineand to thereby reduce the width of the traffic lanes, as is presentlydone with conventional road line markers.

In the event it is desired to increase the weight and stability of thepresent marker, to further minimize the possibility of its displacementby winds, the plug 13 can be temporarily removed and the interior ofsaid hollow device filled or partially filled with sand, water or anyother inexpensive, readily-available material 14 (FIG. 2). When it isdesired to store or transport said markers the sand or other fill can bereadily poured therefrom to lighten the same and facilitate theirhandling. With respect to the storing or transporting of said markers,the novel design thereof permits a large number of said markers to bestacked together in compact form, thus minimizing space requirements andreducing storage or shipping costs.

A further important advantage of the present device is that the pointedform of said marker not only makes it readily visible to motorists, butdrivers will take great precautions to avoid striking the same for fearof injuring their tires on the projecting spikes, being unaware that themarker is made of a relatively soft, flexible material. In the event avehicle does accidentally strike said marker it will ordinarily be onlytemporarily deformed by the impact, the resilient nature of the markercausing it to quickly spring back to its original form, and it isinfrequent that the marker is permanently or seriously damaged. Mostoften, of course, the durable marker will merely be knocked out ofposition, without damage.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the present invention provides anovel road line marker which has several important advantages over thedevices commonly used for the same purpose. Principally, the presentmarker is superior to conventional devices for the reasons that it canbe dropped from a moving truck and will always land in an uprightposition, it is difficult to displace, and said marker can be positioneddirectly on the road line to permit full use of the driving lanes.

The particular size of the marker is not critical to the presentinvention and can be varied to suit particular requirements, so long asit is large enough to be readily visible to motorists. Similarly,various colors can be utilized but a bright color having fluorescentproperties provides the best visibility, and will probably be preferredfor most uses. In short, it is contemplated that numerous changes andmodifications in the illustrated form of the present invention arepossible, and it is intended to cover herein not only the form of saidroad line marker illustrated and described herein, but also any and allchanges and modifications therein as shall come within the spirit ofsaid invention, and within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A road line marker, comprising a hollow, enclosed central portionformed of a flexible material, and a plurality of hollow legs formedintegrally on and communieating with said central portion, said legsprojecting from said central portion and being tapered outwardly andterminating in relatively small points, said projecting legs beingequally spaced about said central portion, whereby said marker will besupported by several of said legs no matter how it is positioned on asurface.

2. A road li-ne marker, comprising a hollow, enclosed central portionformed of a flexible material and having an aperture therein; a plugremovably fitted in said aperture; and six hollow legs formed integrallyon and projecting from said central portion, said legs being taperedoutwardly and terminating in relatively small points, and

said projecting legs being equally spaced about said central portion,whereby said marker will be supported by three of said legs no matterhow it is positioned on a surface. a

3. A road line marker, comprising a hollow, enclosed central portionformed of a flexible material and having an aperture therein; aremovable closure for said aperture; and a plurality of supporting legsprojecting from said central portion and being tapered outwardly andterminating in relatively small points, said projecting legs beingequally spaced about said central portion whereby said marker will besupported by several of said legs no matter how it is positioned on asurface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A ROAD LINE MARKER, COMPRISING A HOLLOW, ENCLOSED CENTRAL PORTIONFORMED OF A FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, AND A PLURALITY OF HOLLOW LEGS FORMEDINTEGRALLY ON AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CENTRAL PORTION, SAID LEGSPROJECTING FROM SAID CENTRAL PORTION AND BEING TAPERED OUTWARDLY ANDTERMINATING IN RELATIVELY SMALL POINTS, SAID PROJECTING LEGS BEINGEQUALLY SPACED ABOUT SAID CENTRAL PORTION, WHEREBY SAID MARKER WILL BESUPPORTED BY SEVERAL OF SAID LEGS NO MATTER HOW IT IS POSITIONED ON ASUARFACE.